Ifs and buts plague Trail Blazers again in loss to Pistons

Ifs and buts plague Trail Blazers again in loss to Pistons

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – As the old saying goes, “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas.”And for the Portland Trail Blazers, it would be a very happy new year, too. And maybe even a playoff berth.

But there have been too many ifs. And too many buts.

And too many losses like the one Tuesday night in overtime to the Detroit Pistons. The Blazers outshot the Pistons 52.4 percent to 43.3 percent. They outrebounded Detroit and led after all of the first three quarters. They got big games from Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nerkic, who went a combined 30 for 54 from the field.

BUT … They committed 24 turnovers, many of them just out of sheer carelessness. And they could not stop Detroit’s Marcus Morris, who went for 37 points. And they were outscored 11-4 in the five-minute overtime period, when they also committed four turnovers.

And IF Lillard had been able to make a foul shot after a technical foul with a little more than 10 seconds left – his only miss of the night in six attempts – Portland likely would have won in regulation.

It ended up as just another rough loss for the Trail Blazers, who lost two out of three on a three-game road swing that took them from Florida to Canada before Michigan.

“We’ve lost a lot of close games,” said McCollum, who made 10 of 17 shots en route to 25 points.

“It’s frustrating,” admitted Lillard, who missed his first career triple-double by one assist. “But those other teams are losing so we are still in it for the last playoff spot. We have to move on and think about the next game.”

Lillard would have had his triple-double had some of his teammates made a few easy shots or even chose to take them, But the assist piece of that thing is often the toughest because you need help with it. People have to make shots after you get them the ball.

Portland had pretty good control of this game until the fourth quarter, with its lead usually swinging from 8 to 12 points.

“We had our chances,” said Terry Stotts. “Obviously the turnovers were a big part of the game.”

Nurkic got Portland a 19-19 draw in points with Detroit’s Andre Drummond and occupied him enough to keep him without a blocked shot – a rare happening, especially against the Trail Blazers.

Morris was a real handful on his way to a career-high 37 points. He knocked down 13 of 23 points and hit some big ones in overtime.

But in the end, it was just one more case of ifs and buts – in a season full of them – for the Trail Blazers.

NOTES -- Allen Crabbe came into the game having played 56 minutes in the first two games of this road trip and taken only nine shots. He was having his worst month of the season, averaging 6.9 points. He hadn’t been in double figures since Feb. 9 and had been over 10 points only twice this month. But he got 13 points, hitting five of seven from the floor in this one. … Evan Turner, sidelined with a broken hand, indicated his cast is close to being removed and he expects to be back on the court in a week. Players, however, often have a quicker timetable than their doctors. … The Blazers return to action Thursday night in the Moda Center against Oklahoma City.

In his seven-year tenure, Stotts led the Blazers to six-consecutive playoff appearances and put together a 325-249 record. During that span, the Blazers have won 50 or more games on three occasions, making Stotts the second-winningest head coach in franchise history behind Dr. Jack Ramsay.

The reward seems fitting for Stotts following the Trail Blazers magic carpet ride in the postseason this year. After two-straight sweeps in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, Stotts led Portland to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 19 years.

With Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum likely to stay in Rip City for years to come, Stotts will continue to play a huge role in bolstering the Trail Blazers’ resume as one of the elite teams in the Western Conference.

How should you feel about the Portland Trail Blazers this season?

How should you feel about the Portland Trail Blazers this season?

Portland Trail Blazers fans are split. There's a faction who feels much the way they did after beating the Denver Nuggets in the second round, advancing to the team's First Western Conference Finals appearance in 19 years. Those fans, they like to say, we're just happy the team made it that far. Yet another section of the Rip City faithful is disappointed the team went out in yet another playoff sweep at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

So how should you feel?

As with many things in the NBA, recency bias seems to play a larger factor than perhaps some of us would like to admit. Emotions get woven into current events, which then cast an unfair light backwards onto what has already come to bear.

At its core, this Blazers team is one that had many adaptations over the course of the 2018-19 NBA season. CJ McCollum was tethered nearly full-time with Damian Lillard. Maurice Harkless tried to get healthy all year. Evan Turner was the mastermind of the second unit. Jusuf Nurkic took on a larger role in the offense, both as a screener and a passer. The bench was much more productive than it was in seasons past, and saved the Blazers in countless regular season games.

This team is also the squad that just got swept by the greatest team ever assembled, one missing perhaps its best player. It's reasonable to be upset with how Portland showed up against Golden State. It's also reasonable to understand the myriad contextual factors that led to those losses, and appreciate this team for how good it was.

The Blazers were very good, and they got swept. They can be both. They were. They are.

At times, when they were playing together, these Blazers looked absolutely unstoppable. Lillard and McCollum were additive, not taking chunks away from the team basketball delivered by the chemistry that developed top to bottom over the course of the year. The your-turn-my-turn offense was gone, and the defense was more collaborative outside of just a pick-and-roll guard defender and a helpside big man.

They weren't some flash in the pan, and we saw real growth in Portland this season. It started with coach Terry Stotts, who went deeper into his bench and played a longer rotation throughout the year. Whether it was by choice or by function of the roster, Stotts needed more shooting and more dynamism than he had in seasons past. That allowed players like Jake Layman, Nik Stauskas, and Zach Collins to add their contributions at different stretches over the season.

As the year went on, we very clearly knew who this Blazers team was. Yes, it was still Lillard's show, but the rest of his supporting cast looked as though they were the missing piece he had needed for years. The Blazers, as top-heavy as the rest of the Western Conference, were suddenly thick, some eight or nine or ten players deep.

It will get lost in the jumble of history when folks, particularly those who didn't watch this team all year, write about Portland in the years to come. From a distance, you can already see how this season will fade into a short, one line narrative:

Nurkic broke his leg with three weeks left in the season, and despite the best efforts of some fill-in guys, the Blazers couldn't keep things going against the champions.

But that isn't a very good or even accurate understanding of who Portland was, or why it succeeded in the postseason this year. What will get lost is that Portland was able to grab the third seed in the West because of its bench and another MVP candidate season from Lillard. But here’s the rub: that's the same thing that kept this squad going in the postseason even after Nurkic went down. The success of the Blazers in the regular season was the success of the Blazers in the postseason.

Without stopping to understand just how crucial this chemistry was to this team, you’ll miss the best story about Portland this year. Yes, McCollum adapted to his new role. Lillard came out with some new tricks, particularly some up-and-under moves near the rim. But this season was about feeling a swell of confidence for the Blazers when substitutions were made. It was the strong play of the Portland rotation that allowed them to adapt to a catastrophic loss like Nurkic’s broken leg when other, less congealed teams would have crumbled under the heat.

That takes us back to the question of how we should feel, and it starts with how Portland consumes basketball. Rip City is a unique place in the NBA. The Blazers are both a team that has been excellent over the past two decdes, but also not catastrophically frustrated when they aren’t championship contenders. The Blazers or one of the NBA's best franchises from a winning perspective, certainly under the ownership of Paul Allen.

THE BLAZERS ARE GOING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIPTHE BLAZERS ARE GOING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIPTHE BLAZERS ARE GOING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIPTHE BLAZERS ARE GOING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIPTHE BLAZERS ARE GOING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIPTHE BLAZERS ARE GOING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP

A friend of mine, John, has been championing the idea that “The Blazers are going to win the championship” on Twitter for several years. It's a kind of irrational, feel-good confidence that folks inside the Portland sphere have come to expect. It’s fun, but it doesn’t mean much. What John’s perpetual tweeting of #TBAGTWTC really represents is a tongue-in-cheek poke at the shift in American sports culture to the “championship or bust” model.

The Blazers are not championship contenders at this moment, but throughout the history of Allen's ownership of this team, they've also tried very hard not to go in the other direction; to bust. Without that kind of all-or-nothing thinking, it's much easier for ask to understand how Blazers fans should feel about this season. We land somewhere in the middle, with confidence and happiness for all of the things that did go right, while at the same time understanding it's okay to be disappointed it didn't keep going.

In one month or two months or six months time, I think Portland will see this Western Conference Finals run for what it really was: A magical, fairytale story that wasn't about just the stars, and it wasn't just about the coaches, and wasn't just about the injuries. It was about the bench, and the individual performances, and guys stepping up to will each other forward, well past where they should have gone.

This season in Portland was about camaraderie. It was about brotherhood. It was about being a team that become more than the sum of its parts by banding together. In some small way, it was about resisting the inevitability many have felt in the face of a league dominated by the Warriors. On paper the Blazers had no right to be in the WCF. On the court, they earned every square inch of parquet hammered into each other. From baseline to baseline, stanchion to stanchion.

Feel how you want about this Blazers season coming to an end. I know how I’m going to feel. Proud.

Olshey came to Portland in 2012 and one of his first moves was drafting future NBA Rookie of the Year and four-time All-NBA selection, Damian Lillard. Olshey also orchestrated the deal that landed fan favorite Jusuf Nurkic in Portland in 2017, and his mid-season moves this past season helped solidify the bench and led to a deep playoff run for the Blazers.

Portland finished as the No.3 seed the past two season, and this past season they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 19 seasons.

Olshey was promoted to President of Basketball Operation in 2015.

UPDATE: The Trail Blazers have made the extension official. The following is the team's press release:

PORTLAND, Ore. (May 24, 2019) – The Portland Trail Blazers have announced a contract extension for President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey, taking him through the 2023-24 season.

“Neil has done an exceptional job finding and keeping the talent that has made the Trail Blazers a perennial playoff team, culminating in this season’s magical run to the Western Conference Finals,” said Jody Allen, Trustee of Paul G. Allen Trust. “I have great confidence in the culture he has created in Portland, and I look forward to seeing it thrive and grow for years to come.”

Promoted to President of Basketball Operations in 2015, Olshey was named the 10th General Manager in franchise history on June 4, 2012, and finished his seventh season at the helm in 2018-19. In his role, Olshey leads the organization’s Basketball Operations, overseeing talent evaluation, player personnel decisions, contract negotiations and salary cap management.

“Consistency and continuity have been great assets to us as a franchise, and Neil’s extension speaks greatly to our on-court success,” said Trail Blazers president and CEO Chris McGowan. “Neil and his staff have done a tremendous job executing his vision for the team and the results are something we are all proud of.”

Under Olshey’s leadership, the Trail Blazers have won two division titles, made the postseason six consecutive seasons and are coming off playoff series wins over Oklahoma City and Denver that led them to their first Western Conference Finals berth in 19 years. Olshey fortified the team’s playoff roster by executing midseason deals for Rodney Hood and Enes Kanter.

“I am honored to extend my tenure with the Portland Trail Blazers under the leadership of Jody Allen, the ongoing partnership with Bert Kolde, Chris McGowan and Terry Stotts and in the memory of Paul G. Allen,” said Olshey. “Leslie, Connor, James and I love Portland and feel blessed to be a part of the future of Rip City.”

As all of Rip City reflects on the Trail Blazers 2018-19 season, April 10th 2019 will most likely be a date that fans and players will remember for years to come. It was the last game of the regular season and Portland fans got a glimpse into the future.

On May 21st the media got a glimpse behind the scenes of the future and rookie Anferenee Simons.

At exit interviews on Tuesday with the season in the books, the Blazers offered up their thoughts on the season as a whole, what their summer plans will entail, and more.

The Blazers also discussed the future of the franchise with the potential of the Blazers' rookie shooting guard.

“I think about it sometimes, especially when people comment, ‘Oh you wouldn’t be here unless Anfernee scored 37,’ so it’s a pretty fun moment, but I kind of just not harp on it too much and try to get better,” Simons said with a smile.

“He’s potential is crazy,” Lillard said at Tuesday’s exit interviews. “I mean, I think last year I was here watching both of his workouts for the team, and he just looked so young. When I was watching him he was so explosive. He was a shot maker, you know, he can get to spots on the floor that a lot of people struggle to get to and he can do it.”

“Being able to shoot the ball, being that type of athlete, a really good floater, but I think his demeanor is what’s so big,” Lillard added. “It kind of reminding me of myself a lot, with just how in a room full of grown men in the locker room, he’s never uncomfortable… If everybody is on one side, he doesn’t just agree with everybody just because he feels like he has to or something like that. He stands on his own two feet.”

Simons played in 20 regular season games and averaged 3.8 points on 44.4% shooting, including 34.5% from three after hitting 10-of-29 attempts.

The 37-point game in the last regular season contest did give Simons more confidence moving forward.

Lillard is confident in the young gun as well.

“He works, he puts the time in. He doesn’t complain. I think he has a lot of qualities about him that make me believe that if he just keeps working and keeps developing, I think when I’m on my way out, you’ll all be talking to him every day,” Lillard said.

Another Trail Blazers veteran who mentioned the potential of Simons at this week’s exit interviews was Al-Farouq Aminu.

“I wish I was the type of professional that he was coming into the league. I kind of pat myself on the back as well, just because I’m a vet, and all the vets that we do have. I think it’s a two-way street… You usually see guys that are around in this league for a long time, they usually have somebody that they can pattern themselves after. I remember when I went to Dallas, I just learned how to be a pro,” Aminu said.

Chief also had a fun story that he shared with the media. During the season the Trail Blazer wings participate in a friendly three-point shooting competition after practice. Simons, who usually working with his fellow rookie Gary Trent Jr. after practice, somehow convinced Aminu and the rest of the guys to let him compete.

Simons won the three-point shootout.

“We usually don’t let rookies even play. So, it was kind of awkward man. We had a lot of guys go down… We should’ve really not let him get in there, man. He got lucky by even getting in there,” Aminu joked.

“That’s the kid, man. He makes the most of his opportunity,” Aminu said.

“It was the dark days, a couple of dark days for sure,” Aminu laughed.

Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts has been pleased with the rookie’s development as well.

"He makes the game look easy... He's got excellent offensive instincts... I think this is a big summer for both him and Gary [Trent Jr.],” Coach Stotts said.

Simons acknowledged that he is confident that he can be a rotation player next season, but added, “obviously, I’m not in control of that, so I just got gotta control what I can control.”

The 19-year-old said the coaching staff has not talked to him about his role for next season yet, but Simons said they did discuss “just getting better, learn a lot, and make sure you take everything seriously in Summer League because they empathized that was going to be big for me this summer.”

Simons will workout and spend most of his summer back home in Florida.

With just a little over a month away from NBA Summer League tipping off on July 5th, Simons said he’s ready to go repeat and bring back a second straight Summer League Championship.

Damian Lillard can now sign supermax extension -- but what is that?

Damian Lillard can now sign supermax extension -- but what is that?

When it was officially announced earlier today that Damian Lillard was named to the all-NBA second team, it meant a financial windfall to the Trail Blazer point guard. He is now eligible to sign a supermax contract extension with the team.

There are three ways to qualify for a supermax contract extension and only a player who has (or will have) completed eight years of NBA service by the end of his current contract is eligible to sign a supermax deal, which can only be offered by the team that drafted him or traded for his rookie contract:

Be named to an All-NBA team in the most recent season or both seasons before it.

Or, be named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season or both seasons before it.

Or, be named NBA MVP in any of the three previous seasons.

The supermax is officially called the “Designated Veteran Player Extension." The provision allows teams to re-sign qualified players to maximum five-year contracts worth up to 35 percent of the salary cap with eight percent escalation in each subsequent year. Lillard still has two seasons (at approximately $62 million) left on his existing contract so the supermax would not kick in until that deal runs its course.

But when it does, he’ll qualify for 35 percent of the cap. Those four seasons are estimated to pay Lillard in the neighborhood of $190 million, and it could be higher, depending on the size of the cap. The team and Lillard have confirmed what Yahoo.com’s Chris Haynes reported earlier this week – that Lillard is going to be offered and will sign the deal when it is allowed to be extended, after July 1.

There are only four players who have received the supermax extension – John Wall, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry and James Harden. But two other players, in addition to Lillard, became eligible with the announcement of the all-NBA teams: Kemba Walker and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This contract provision was added so that small-market teams would have a financial advantage in holding onto their best players. The team’s salary cap will not be affected until the supermax kicks in, so the Trail Blazers will have more roster flexibility over the next two seasons than they will later.

Lillard is the face of this franchise as much as any Trail Blazers has ever been. He's a leader, too, who keeps the team's culture focused and a man who does more than his share in the community.

Twitter reacts as Damian Lillard receives Second Team All-NBA honors

Twitter reacts as Damian Lillard receives Second Team All-NBA honors

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has been named to the All-NBA Second Team for the 2018-19 season. It is his fourth time Lillard has received All-NBA team honors, joining legend Clyde Drexler as the only players in franchise history to be named All-NBA on four occasions. Lillard is now eligible for a four-year, $191 million super max extension this summer.

Here's a look at how Twitter reacted to the news of Lillard's latest accomplishment:

Everybody got the answers. Just be happy for the man. 99.9% of people doesn’t have the skill set to rise to the occasion like @Dame_Lillard everyday. He lead his team to the WCFinals. Congrats on a helluva season Dame.

Lillard received eight 1st team votes, 87 2nd team votes and five 3rd Team votes.

This now makes Damian Lillard eligible for a supermax deal this summer should the Trail Blazers and his agents choose to renegotiate a deal.

The Trail Blazers put out the following press release on Thursday afternoon:

PORTLAND, Ore. (May 23, 2019) – Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has been named to the All-NBA Second Team by a vote of the media, it was announced today by the NBA.

Lillard averaged 25.8 points (44.4% FG, 36.9% 3-PT, 91.2% FT), 4.6 rebounds, a career-high 6.9 assists, 1.10 steals and 35.5 minutes in 80 games (all starts) for the Trail Blazers in 2018-19, helping Portland to a 53-29 record and the third seed in the Western Conference. He finished the year ranked ninth in the NBA in points per game, tied for 11th in assists per game, third in free throw percentage, sixth in minutes per game, fourth in free throws made and sixth in three-pointers made.

With career highs of 2,067 points and 551 assists, Lillard became the first player in franchise history to record at least 2,000 points and 500 assists in a season. He was one of four players in the NBA to average at least 25.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists this season (Booker/Harden/James) and joined Oscar Robertson and LeBron James as the only three players in NBA history to have at least 1,500 points and 400 assists in each of their first seven NBA seasons.

Lillard was selected as an NBA All-Star for the fourth time in his career and was named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week ending March 31. On March 15, Lillard (12,209 career points) moved past LaMarcus Aldridge for second place on the all-time franchise scoring list and playing in the 548th game of his career on April 7, he became the third-fastest player in NBA history to reach 1,500 career three-pointers.

This marks the fourth All-NBA honor for Lillard, who was named All-NBA First Team in 2017-18, Second Team in 2015-16 and Third Team in 2013-14. He joins Clyde Drexler as the only Portland players to be named to an All-NBA team four times. Lillard is the seventh Trail Blazer to be named All-NBA, joining Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas, Jim Paxson, Drexler, Brandon Roy and Aldridge.

Outsiders Blog: Is Zach Collins' future at PF or C?

Outsiders Blog: Is Zach Collins' future at PF or C?

In yesterday's exit interviews Trail Blazers second-year big man Zach Collins wasn't shy about the impact he thinks he can make for this team in the future.

When asked if he thought he could be a starter in this league, Collins said "yeah, absolutely" without hesitation.

During this playoff run, Collins came up big over and over again. He showed a great ability to challenge shots at the rim and was noticeably more comfortable and confident on the offensive end.

Fans were starting to clamor for him to start over Al-Farouq Aminu at power forward. They liked the idea of Collins playing alongside Enes Kanter. Surely fans looked forward to next season and the potential pairing of Collins alongside Jusuf Nurkic, should Aminu, an unrestricted free agent not return.

This idea makes sense. According to Basketball-Reference, per 100 possessions Collins played about two-thirds of his minutes his season at power forward. So it only seems natural to want to slot him alongside Nurkic or Kanter in the lineup.

However, Collins would rather play the five than the four. "I like playing the five personally because I'm involved in everything especially defensively... Personally, I would like to play the five, but we'll see."

This sounds great and all, but Collins has a Bosnian Beast sized hurdle in front of him if he wants to be the starting center. Nurkic has solidified himself as a key member of the Blazers "big three" and just last offseason he signed a four-year deal to remain with Portland as its star center.

However, Nurkic suffered a severe leg injury late in the season and is out for the foreseeable future. General Manager Neil Olshey said at exit interviews that there is no timetable for Nurkic's return, but conventional wisdom says he will miss the first quarter and perhaps the first half of the season. So the door is open for Collins to grab that starting center spot to start the season.

But what about after Nurkic comes back? If Collins wants to remain at center, he would have to be ok with being a backup. Is that something Collins is willing to do long term?

Said Collins, "there's been a lot of great role players in this league. If that's what my career's going to be defined as then that's fine. I've always wanted to be the guy, I've always wanted to be a starter, and I've always wanted to be a guy that plays a lot of minutes to help a team win. I won't stop until I get to that point."

Collins could end up being a sixth man caliber player as a career backup to Nurkic. Or, he could shift his focus to playing the four and be a career starter right next to the Bosnian Beast.

Where he fits best within this lineup is up to Collins and the coaches. With the expected departure of Kanter, Collins will likely be the answer at center to start the 2019-2020 season. What awaits him beyond that remains to be seen. But if you ask me, I think the Blazers' future looks better him playing with Nurkic instead of backing him up.

The pairing of Collins and Nurkic would give the Blazers two defensive threats in the paint. It would give the Blazers two big men that can hit mid-range jumpers, and it would give the Blazers a power forward that can space the floor. Sure, you can look at the stats and say Collins only shot 33% from deep this season, but Aminu, Portland's staring power forward, shot just 34%. Three-point shooting aside, Collins is the future. It may be time to move on from Aminu and start the former Gonzaga star. If the Blazers bring Aminu back, it may still be time to move Aminu to the bench and give the starting job to Collins. The fact of the matter is, if Collins wants to start, which he says he does, he should be looking at the power forward spot.

Olshey: "Everyone who comes through here has gotten better"

Olshey: "Everyone who comes through here has gotten better"

It was exit-interview day for the Portland Trail Blazers, the final chance for the media to interview the key players, coach and management of one of the most surprising teams in the franchise’s 49-year history.

There weren’t a lot of shocking happenings – other than President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey announcing that the team has extended the contract of head coach Terry Stotts. But that wasn’t much of a surprise, either, since Stotts had just engineered a run to the Western Conference finals for a team predicted before the season to win 42 games and miss the playoffs.

The pertinent video is on this website and I invite you to peruse it, but in the interest of time, let me hit a few of the highlights for you, in order of the players’ appearance:

CJ McCollum: “It was an incredible season based on what we went through. Expectations weren’t that high. It was a pretty incredible year.”

Meyers Leonard: “The last two games were what I know in my heart I can do. Heading into this offseason I feel very confident in what I’ve done. I’m happy to know I feel I gave the staff and the organization confidence in me. I’m going to come back next year ready for a more definite role.”

Evan Turner: “It was dope. We did a lot of great things this season. We went from being a playoff-caliber team to a potential championship-caliber team. We’re legit.”

Al-Farouq Aminu: “I’ve been here four years now. It’s the longest I’ve ever been at one organization. I don’t think you heard me complain too much.”

Damian Lillard: “People who might not have believed before, people who thought I was crazy for thinking we could push that far, now I’m sure a lot of people believe it more than they did before. We were coming off a sweep in the first round (last season). It’s a great feeling just to know, OK, we had a 15-plus lead in three of the four games. We know that we were capable of winning those games. And if those things go our way, we’re looking at going to the Finals.”

Maurice Harkless: “Overall, we have a lot to be proud of this season. We would have liked a better outcome. But that’s a huge accomplishment by us as a team.”

Enes Kanter: “It’s been an amazing experience. This team made me a better person and a better player. It was the best thing that ever happened in my career.”

Rodney Hood: “I’m not sure (about his free-agency). Obviously, we know it’s a business. We’ll see how everything works out this summer. I’m on the record with how much I love it here and I want to be back. I want to be embraced. That’s a big word that means a lot to me. Whether that equals to a dollar amount, that’s what I’m looking for.”

Zach Collins: “(On whether he’d like to be a starter next season) Yeah, absolutely. I think this playoff run, not only for myself but for the team, it was a great experience. And now we’ve been there and we know what to expect. For me personally, going through that and being able to play a big role and help our team win a lot of games the playoffs, I’ve already learned so much, just in the last month in the playoffs.”

Anfernee Simons: “(The last game of the regular season) obviously gave me a lot of confidence. It was a good kick-start for the summer. (And in the summer league) I want to prove myself. I am young but I’m still able to play with the best of them. I can’t wait.”

Neil Olshey: “(On Stotts’ contract extension) We win every year. It’s year No. 7 – six straight playoff appearances. Two division titles. A trip to the conference finals. And we still have one of the youngest rosters in the league. But it goes beyond wins and losses. It’s alignment, partnership, Our young players develop. It’s a commitment to a longer-term view. One of the things I’m most proud of is everyone who comes through here has gotten better.”

Terry Stotts: “(On where he ranks on the list of Trail Blazer coaches) Doctor Jack (Ramsay) is a Hall of Famer and Rick Adelman will be. I’m not going to touch those guys. They are idols of mine. I don’t even presume to be in that category. There have been a lot of great coaches here.”